Spring tool



Aug. 16, 1932. v s HANSEN 1,872,579

SPRING TOOL Filed A13ri1'29, 1930 Patented Aug. 16, 1932v vIGFUs s. HANSEN, or 1.0mm, Iowa SPRING Toor.V

f Application jledv April 29,

rThe object of my invention Ais tolprovide a spring tool of strong, durable, simple Yand inexpensive construction, for Conveniently g spreading springs, .such for instance. as Vthe rear spring of the Model A Ford automobile,

for releasing the spring shackles and remov ing the shackle bolts. j

More particularly, it is my-purpose to provide a spring tool` of the kind mentioned,

1o having a cross bar peculiarly shaped and arranged for insertion at one end into the curl of the spring and having-.at its other gend.

abeveled lever having an end adapted'for insertion into the -oppositecurl of the spring and being shaped and mounted for spreading and tensioning the spring and for permit# ting contraction of the spring without releasing the tool.

W'ith these and other objectsl in Y*view my 2o invention consists in the construction, ar-

rangement and combination of the various parts of my device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed voutfin'my claims, and

illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in

Which:

Figure 1 shows a rear elevation Voffan automobile with my spring vtool assembled relation thereto for releasing the fspring' 3o shackles.

Figure 2 is a detailed, sectional view taken on the line 2-2 `of Figure l', parts being omitted. Y

that shown in Figure y2, illustrating the tool in another position of its adjustment.- t.

Figure 4 is a perspective view ofthe forming part of the tool. Y l f Figure 5 is a detailed, sectional view taken 4o on the line 5-5 of Figure 2'; and A Figure 6 is an elevation of a spring having assembled therewith ay .modified form' of myr improved spring tool.

In some automobiles, forexample thewellknown Model A Ford, the the rear part ofthe body is supported on a leaf spring havin generally the shape of anlinverted V. j

The spring is supported at its ends` onrthev chassis by means of shackles of Well-knowfn construction.` W henthe spring is under tenlever i930. serial-N0. 448,26.

sion caused byV the weight of the vcar body,

it isdicultto take it out because the'shackle bolts bind. 7,. Inthe use of my improvedspringtool the body of the car, indicated in the accompanying drawing by the ,reference numerallthis raised'suftlciently in any suitablemway, as for insta-nce by means of thel 'tackle indicated. generally at 11. Y z

This takes the weight vo 1 the V's'pririglQ and, of course, in that case the spring tenv sion will contract and move the ends :thereof toward ,each other." j

The lspring 12 has, at its oppositeends the curls or Acylindrical portions 13 forming, f journals forthe shackle bolts 14, Y, .A 4On the frame of the car are corresponding journals 15, Figures :l and r2, receiving the opposite arm of the shackle ,bolt-14," 'It will, of course, be understood that when the spring 12 tends to contract, the arms off the shackle bolts bind tightly. It is quite diflicult to remove them. l Y- Myimproved tool for spreading the spring forV conveniently removing the shackle bolts -f 'l comprises a cross-bar 16, the generalv shape of which yis indicated in Figures 1 andf2.

The `cr'oss bar 16 has at vits central/portion a curved part 16a for clearing the differer'itial` caSin`g.v A

At oneend of the bar 16, being the left- L hand end as shown in Figures 1, y2 and 3,l the f i Y bar is tapered Vbelow Vas shown forfinstance Figure 3 is a view substantially similar to A in Figure l at 16?).v The tapered portion is spread laterallyV as\ indicated for-instance at in Figure 3. f

The Vtapered edge is arranged not V*quite lat right angles to the axis of the bar.- For in- Y stance, 'as shown lin Figure 2, this taperedV edge is inclined ,slightly so that ltlierbar is i longest at what might loe-called the rear side By rear side I mean the part whichis rear-v wardly when the bar -is installed for remov-f ing the spring. 1

The reasonffor this arrangement will be made clear below. A lever, indicated generally at Anf-is piv-f oted tothe other'endof the bar 16. The Jvlever A' may be made for instance from a single piecegof bar folded over, at'the Iniddle,as indicated at 17 in Figure 4, to form a handle portion.

The material of the bar is then spread in both directions from the handle as indicated at 18a in Figure 4. From the portions 18 and 18a the different stretches of bar material arecurved to form U shaped members 19 and 19a, of which the arm nearest the handle 17 is shorter than the handle as shown. .Y

The lower member 19 is inclined upwardl and to the upper member and is welded thereto as at 20 to forma beveled edge 21 adapted to be received bythe curl and the body of the spring lever.

vThe edge 20 has near what may be called the front side ofthe lever A an inclined portion best illustrated perhaps in Figure 2 at 21a.' `Thepurpose of this inclined portion will be later referred to.

The-arms 19 and 19a are provided near the edge 21-with spaced pairs of holes 22 and 23. The pair of holes of each arm register with each other to receive pivot bolts or rivets or the like 24, extending through the end of the bar 16, as shown for instances in Figures 3 and 5. Y fr The members 19 and 19a ofthe lever A are suiiciently spread so that when'the leve-r is swungfrom one position to another. the ba-r 16 may freely clear between them.V

`The members 18 and 18a limit the swinging movement of the lever in one direction as shown in Figure 3.

Pivoted to the forward side of the bar 16 is a latch 25 which may be turned to positionparallel with the bar where it does notl interfere with the swinging movement of the lever, or may be turned to vertical position shown in Figures 1, 2 and 5, for instance, Where itserves as a stop for the lever A.

I will now describe the manner of using my l improved tool and in connection with this description, referto some of its advantages.

The car body having been raised, thel tension is off the spring 12 and the ends of the spring 12 tend to move toward each other and are restrained by the shackles 14.

The nuts 28 may be removed from the ends yof the arms of the shackles, but the arms will side thereof. The edge 21 of the lever A is then placed adjacent the inside of the curl of the other end of the spring until the corner of suchedge engages the spring and the lever A is moved with a firm forward motion from thev dotted line position shown in Figure 2 toA the full yline position shown in such figure.

' Theadjustinentof the lever will force the ends ofthe spring apart as shown in Figures 1 and 2. The shackles will then be loose and `by slightly lifting the Springs they may be easily removed. y j

The'neXt step is to "lift, the body a little higher until the. springs clear the chassis parts. This involves another problem.

On some cars there are projecting parts which interferewith such lifting of the body. It will be understood that the spring must be lifted straight upwardly because of other connections between the body and the chassis, not necessary to describe here.

In the Ford Model A for instance, the snubber attaching knobs 32 are above the shackle connections and project out over them.

When the spring iseXpanded, as shown in Figure 1 or as shown inFigure 2, the body and the spring' can not be lifted upwardly directly because these snubber attaching knobs stand in the way. vSo the workman turns the latch 25 from its position shown in Figure 5 to its position shown in Figure 3, where it is parallel with the bar 16 and swings the lever A across the bar 16v from the position shown in Figure 2, to the position shown in Figure 3.

The spring, being under tension all the while, will of course contract, thus moving its ends toward each other.

VThe movement of the lever A is limited by the engagement between members 18 and 18a with the bar 16 when the parts assume the `position shown in Figure 3.

The toolV will still be frictionally gripped by thespring, but the spring will have shortened as shown in Figure 3 until it can be lifted upwardly past the knobs32.

The chassis may then be rolled out, or repairs may be made if desired.

When it is desire to replace the shackle` bolts, parts are arranged with the rear axle in normal place located underneath the spring 12 and the body is lowered Yuntil the ends of the spring clear the knobs 32 and are below the levelof the knobs. Then the operator reverses the operation of the tool, swinging the lever A from the position shown in Figure 3 to the position shown in Figure 2, whereupon the shackle bolts may be reinstalled.

It will be seen from the foregoing that the operation is simple and very fast.

VIt will be noted that I have provided a peculiar slant on the edge 160 so that when the tool is adjusted from the position shown` rivet 24. This is for permitting the pivot tol be located at different points for attaching the spring tool for use with different cars.

In Figure 6, I have shown a slightly modified form of my invention in which I have provided a single cross bar 36, the ends of which are beveled at 37.

Ihe bar 36 has the central raised portion 36a, similar to the portion 16a. VIn using the bar 36, the bar is placed between the spring curls, while the load isimposed on the spring and then when the body is raised the bar is held in position and the spring will naturally contract to grip the bar. When the body is raised far enough, the shackle bolts will be loose and can be readily removed.

From the foregoing it will be obvious that some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of details and parts of my device, without departing from the essential spirit and purpose of my invention, and that it is my purpose to cover by my claims, any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within their scope.

I claim as my invention l. For use with a bowed spring having eyes at its ends, a spring tool comprising a pair of toggle levers pivoted together to assume an initial contracted position and to swing in one direction to an extended position and thereafter to a partially contracted position and means for normally stoppingv said levers in said partially contracted position.

2. For use with a bowed spring having eyes at its ends, a spring tool comprising a pair of toggle levers pivoted together to assume an initial contracted position and to swing in one direction to an extended position and thereafter to a partially contracted position, means for normally stopping said levers in said partialy contracted position and selectively operable means for stopping said levers in said extended position.

3. For use with a bowed spring having eyes at its ends, a spring tool comprising a pair of toggle levers pivoted together to assume an initial contracted position and to swing in one direction to an extended position and thereafter to a partially contracted position, one of said levers being split to straddle the other and having converging ends to normally engage the other lever and thereby act as stop means for the levers in said partially contracted position.

4L. For use with a bowed sprlng having l eyes at its ends, a spring tool comprising a pair of toggle levers pivoted together to assume an initial contracted position and to swing in one direction to an extended position and thereafter to a partially contracted position, one of said levers being split to strad- `dle the other and vhaving converging ends to normally-engage the other lever and thereby act as stop means for the levers in said partially contracted position and selectively operable means for stopping said levers in said extended position.

5. For use with a bowed spring having eyes at its ends, a spring tool comprising a pair of toggle levers pivoted together to assume an initial contracted position and to swingv in one direction to an extended position and thereafter to a partially contracted position, means for normally stopping said levers in said partially cont-racted position and a turn button on one lever to selectively stop the other lever when the levers are in said extended position and when the turn button is in one of its positions and for allowing the normal stop means to operate when the button is in another of its positions.

6. For use with a bowed spring having l eyes at its ends, a spring comprising a pair of toggle levers pivoted `together'to assume an initial contracted position and to swing in one direction to an extended position and thereafter to a partially contracted position and means for normally stopping said levers in said partially contracted position, the ends of said levers which engage said eyes of said spring being rounded to allow rolling action of said ends against said eyes during movement of the tool to its various positions.

Des'Moines Iowa, April 18, 1930.

.VIGFUS S. HANSEN. 

